A New Reality
by canfullofawsome
Summary: Raised in laboratories, Josie and Ruth are different. Hogwarts is new, but magic is not. How will these two fit into the new reality they've created for themselves?
1. Chapter 1

Years ago, Josie and Ruth were sent to London for examining. Every time they were left alone, something unusual would happen. Snakes would appear from nowhere, things would levitate randomly. One day, they received invitations to a different kind of school called Hogwarts….

Ruth's POV

It took Josie and I a while to find Platform 9 ¾. In fact we even had to ask this family to help us. They had red hair, each and every one of them. How weird is that? I finally persuaded Josie we should ask them. They all had owls with them. I have a cat and an owl and Josie has a rat and an owl. This is my first year at Hogwarts. Josie's, too. We're sisters.

I was looking around for a place to sit on the Hogwarts Express. There was a friendly looking boy with round glasses and an odd looking scar. A girl was sitting next to him. So was the red haired boy. In the another seating compartment, there was an angry, stuck up looking boy with bleach blonde hair. Sitting next to him were two stubby kids with dark hair who were eating chocolates. I decided to poke my head into the compartment with the boy whose family helped us find the platform.

"Hi, is there room for two more?" I ask.

"Yeah, sure." the boy with the glasses smiled.

"Thanks. Um, hi! I'm Ruth and this is Josie."

"I'm Hermione. It's nice to meet both of you."

"I'm Ron, but we met when you two were looking for the Platform. And this is my rat Scabbers.

"Oh!" Josie smiled. "I have a rat, too. It's name is Plague!" she petted the pure black rat. "I was going to name it Black Death but…"

"Who are you?" I asked the boy in the glasses.

"I'm Harry Potter." he replied.

"Oh my god. You're Harry Potter!"

"Wait," Josie paused. "_The_ Harry Potter? The snakes told me all about you!"

"The snakes?" he asked.

"The one you released from the zoo; they talk, you know." I said.

"But how do you know?"

"Well, when you can talk to the snakes…" she began.

"…you begin to learn things." I finished ominously.

Harry looked shocked that he wasn't the only one. A nice lady opened the door to the compartment and asked us if we'd like any candy from the cart. Harry bought the whole freakin' thing! I bought a few chocolate frogs from Harry. He offered them to me for free, but I declined. I explained to him that Josie and I were rich because our grandparents were killed by the Dark Lord, but they left their fortune to the next in line who could speak Parseltongue, like us. Not to mention, our parents are _rich_. Harry's story was similar. I didn't know that his parents had been killed. He seemed oddly un…screwed up.

Josie's POV

"So when did you get Scabbers?" I asked Ron.

"Well he was my brother's; I got him a year ago." he explained.

"When did you get Plague?"

"Just a few weeks ago." I said, fondly petting her. "Hey, Plague, wanna meet Scabbers?" I whispered to her. She looked at me as if to say 'okay'.

"Hey Ron, Plague wants to meet Scabbers?" I said looking up.

"Umm, okay." he said handing over the rat. They sniffed each other and then Plague bit him.

"Ron, that's not a real rat." I said plainly.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"He's an Animagus. How old is he?" I asked.

"He's ten now." he said, sounding frightened.

"That's a pretty long time, knowing your skill at spell casting, Ron. Also, he's missing a finger. If I remember correctly, Sirius Black was framed for killing Wormtail so Wormtail cut off his own finger to cover it up. After all, he is working for Voldemort." I said.

"What? No, Sirius killed a street full of muggles and then Wormtail to cover it up. Anyways, how do you know these things?" Ron said.

"We were curious on the topic, so we read up. So, no, _Ronald._ It was a cover up to get Sirius in jail and I can prove it." I said confidently.

"Fine, why don't you?" Ron said.

I force transfigured Scabbers. (If you're wondering where I learned such advanced magic, it just kind of came to me.) Ruth and I are very different than other people who know magic. The spells we need just pop up in our heads, but only if we absolutely need them. We've just barely escaped many situations that would have been quite unfortunate. We still have a lot to learn but we expect that it should be very easy.

"Wow that's N.E.W.T. level stuff." Hermione said.

"Oh yeah…" I started.

"…we do this all the time." Ruth finished. "Well okay; not all the time but some spells just show up in our heads. It's really quite nice." she explained further.

"Wow, so you're like Fred and George!" Ron said.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Are they like us?"

"They finish each other's sentences." Ron explained.

"I haven't decided if that's a compliment yet." I said suspiciously.

"Anyways, back to the criminal on the floor." Harry said casually.

"Yeah, so Wormtail did you fake your own death, cut off your finger and kill all those muggles just to get Sirius, who is also Harry's godfather, thrown in Azkaban?" I asked.

"N-n-n-no." he stuttered.

"Pfft! Sure, we all believe you. Tell me." I growled in his face, then jabbed my wand at him.

"I believe him." Ron said, cowering in his seat.

"Shut up, Ron." I grimaced.

"F-f-fine. I told Lord Voldemort—"

"Voldemort is a loser. Not a lord." Ruth scowled as she hit him upside the head. "Continue."

"I t-t-told him where Lily and James were hiding. He killed them and I made sure Sirius was thrown in jail." Wormtail confessed to everything I had accused him of.

"See?" I said after he finished.

"Wow." Ron said, still looking extremely scared.

"So, how do we explain this?" Hermione asked casually.

"Well, we say Ron's rat randomly transformed and threatened us. We were really scared and he told us he would kill us all and that he would retransform as soon as a teacher walked in." I paused. "It's foolproof. No matter how much he denies it, we're first years. No teacher is going to believe we're capable of such advanced magic. Okay, so you all are really good at looking scared, right?" I asked, they all nodded. "Okay a teacher's walking down the corridor. Ruth, go work your magic." I said. Ruth rubbed her eyes a little, then ran out into the hallway.

Ruth's POV

"Professor! Professor!" I shouted, running down the corridor, faking sobs that did not at all seem fake. "Ron's rat transformed and nobody knows what to do!" I started to cry a fake tear or two. "We're all first years! I don't want you to think I'm a liar, but he said that the minute we got a teacher, he would turn back into a rat. Is there a way you can turn him back to the guy?" I did my best to look pathetic and scared, but not overdo it.

"This is unnerving. I will take care of it immediately. You did the right thing, to tell me. What is your name?"

"My name is Ruth Maxwell. I'm here with my sister Josie Maxwell."

"Ah, I'm Professor McGonagall."

I led the Professor back to the compartment where Josie had transfigured Wormtail back into a rat.

"Plague bit the rat and it transformed. It was really scary." Josie started to breathe heavily, like she just finished crying. All our years as test subjects and the objects of studies made us extraordinary liars.

"Plague?" McGonagall asked.

"It's her rat." I said. Josie held up Plague.

"Oh well then…." McGonagall smiled.

"Ron, the school will provide you with a new animal because of the importance of this happening. You will not see Scabbers again, Ron. Any final goodbyes?"

"Goodbye, you ugly old rat."

Josie's POV

McGonagall left carrying Wormtail. Once the door closed I started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked.

"I just thought Ron was gonna call McGonagall an ugly old rat, not Wormtail!" I said laughing. Ron started laughing too. Soon we were all laughing hysterically. I almost fell on the floor and Ruth's cat Mimi, or Meemers as we call her, fell off Ruth's lap. Plague had to cling to my shirt I was laughing so hard.

"We should change into our robes." Hermione said after the laughter had subsided. We changed quickly and talked and laughed the rest of the way to Hogwarts. We got off the train once it had stopped, and stepped off the train.

"Hagrid!" Harry said to a giant guy who was telling all first years to come with him.

"Oi Harry, I see you've made some friends!" Hagrid said.

"Yes, these are Josie, Ruth, Hermione, and Ron." Harry introduced us all.

"Well it's nice to meet you, now let's get down to the boat, okay?" he led us to a few boats and we got in. They glided across the glassy smooth waters of the lake to the castle, which in the moonlight looked like a fantasy.

"It's beautiful." I whispered in awe.

"Yeah, way better than anything we've got in the states." Ruth grumbled.

"You're from the USA?" some brown haired girl asked.

"Yeah." we answered together.

"How did you end up here?" she asked.

"Well we got kicked out of the states. Apparently we're 'too dangerous.'" I said.

"I believe the term is National Threat." Ruth pointed out.

She looked scared by that.

"What? Just 'cause we did a lot of accidental magic and can talk to snakes and other stuff like that?" I said innocently.

"You can talk to snakes?" she said sounding really scared.

"_Yessss._" I answered in Parseltongue. She almost screamed.

"Sorry for scaring you." I said.

"That's okay. What's your name? Mine is Lavender." she introduced herself.

"I'm Josie and this is Ruth." I introduced us.

"Nice to meet you." Lavender said.

"Its nice to meet you too." I said. Then the boats stopped and we hopped off.

"Hey, need someone to carry your trunk?" a stupid boy with bleach blonde hair offered.

"I can carry my own stuff, I'm not a wimp." Ruth said.

"_Yesss that'ss riiight sssshe caaan carrry her ooown sssstuffff._" I whispered in his ear from behind. He squeaked like a rabbit and jumped a little. I laughed.

"Gosh you wuss that was just Parseltongue how scary can it be?" I asked.

"You're a Parselmouth?" he asked confusedly.

"No shit dipwad." I snapped.

"I was only trying to be nice. You evil scum. I hope you get in Slytherin." he said.

"And I hope you die." I said smiling.

"Ugh! Jos! You shouldn't get us kicked out of this place, too."

"I maintain that we both got us kicked out of the states. It might have been mostly me, but _you_ are an accomplice."

"Fresh start, remember?"

"Right."

"Oh. Hello, Potter." Draco stepped up to Harry.

"Do I know you?" he asked. "Are you the one from Madame Malkins?"

"Does Princess Potter need someone to carry _his_ bags?" Draco put out his lower lip sarcastically and then scowled at Harry. "He wouldn't want to ruin his manicure would he?"

"Really, do I know you?"

Ruth's POV

It was very nice of that blond kid with stubby friends to offer to carry my bags, but I seriously don't need his help. I'm just glad Josie is there to stick up for me. Sometimes, I'm too trusting. That's screwed me over several times.

In the hall, everyone but the first years sat at the tables. As Josie sat at the front of the hall, McGonagall moved the Sorting Hat towards her head. It touched a flyaway hair on top of her head, then decided.

"SLYTHERIN!" it shouted.

"No!" Draco shouted. "I've wished this on myself!"

Previously in the evening, Draco had been sorted into Slytherin. No shock there.

I was next. I walked up to the front of the hall and then sat down.

"This is hard." the hat said. "You have the heart and the loyalty of a Gryffindor, but the cunning and strategic skills of a Slytherin. Ooh…this is hard." the hat said.

"Decide! Please decide you stupid hat!" I whispered.

"It takes time, Ruth." the hat informed. "I have decided I will not separate sisters. SLYTHERIN!"

"Both of them!" Draco collapsed on the floor.

"Get up, you stupid spaz." Josie scoffed.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, thanks." he said, sitting up.

"A suggestion, cut down on the hair gel." I frowned.

"I'm sorry." Harry said, walking up to Josie and I.

"It's okay. I hope we can still be friends." she shrugged.

"I'm sure we will be." Hermione smiled. "Hey, will you two teach me forced transfiguration?"

"Sure, but no one can know." Josie said.

"Hey, Josie, thanks for letting me know about Scabbers." Ron smiled.

Josie's POV

"No prob. It's not like I was gonna let some murderer go unpunished for his crimes. I may act like a bitch sometimes, but when it counts I'm on the good side no matter what." I said.

"Good to know." Ron said. "I was worried."

"You don't need to worry about my sister…that much." Ruth informed him.

"Lotsa people do." I said shrugging. "I get used to it."

"Well, we should go to our common rooms, I guess." Ron suggested. We went our separate ways. I walked into the common room after Blondie.

"So, I heard you talking to Weasley earlier and you said you were on the good side. Why is that?"

"I dunno. 'Cause I don't want to end up like you." I said brushing past him.

"Oh, like a loser?" Ruth sneered.

"I thought you were nice." Draco complained.

"It depends. I'm tired now, so no, I'm not."

"'Night sis." Josie made a face at Draco, then followed me back to the Girls' dormitories.

"Stupid Draco." Josie muttered.

"He doesn't seem so bad."

"I think he's Dark, or at least not totally good…"

"He's _eleven_."

"We are too."

"Stop defending him."

"Make me."

"I _will_ injure you."

"I can run faster than you can."

"I can jump farther."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well if you were running I could, you know, jump on your back and pin you down."

"Oh! Like that one time!" Ruth said starting to laugh.

"Yeah and then you were all—" but I couldn't finish because I was laughing so hard. Everyone was looking at us, and they all looked scared I was confused, but then I realized we had started speaking in Parseltongue and none of them could speak it or understand us.

"Quit looking at us like that! Just because we get kicked out of a country doesn't mean we're crazy." I said.

"You got kicked out of a country?" one girl who's name I think was Pansy asked.

"Oh and you didn't?" Ruth said.

"No. Why were you kicked out anyway?" she asked.

"Well according to the US government we're a threat to national security or something, but really they just got creeped out by our magic." I said shrugging.

"Wow. So, I heard you had some murderer in your compartment or something." she said.

"Oh yeah. Ron's rat was really like Wormtail or something and he threatened to kill us but a teacher saved us." I said, conveniently editing the truth.

"So I heard your rat bit him? Can I see her?"

"Oh, sure. Plague, where are you?" I searched my robes and found the rat. Pansy held out her hands and I set Plague in them.

"She's really cute. Why is her name Plague?" she asked, petting the pitch black rat.

"Well it has a historical meaning. Back in like the seventeen hundreds a plague spread through London and killed millions of people. The plague was carried by fleas which were carried by rats. I didn't want to name her Black Death, the name of the plague, so I just went with Plague." I explained.

"Oh, that's umm…interesting." she said as she handed Plague back to me. Ruth's cat jumped up on her lap and Ruth rubbed her back. Our owls were in their cages. Yin squawked. Ruth fed her a piece of owl food. Yang also wanted one so I fed her, too.

"Nice owls. What do you call them?" Pansy asked.

"The black one, mine, is Yang and the white one, Ruth's, is Yin."

"Why do you call them that?" she asked.

"Haven't you ever heard of the Chinese symbols yin and yang?" I asked. She shook her head so I explained the whole concept of good with a little bad, and bad with a little good. In the end I think she got it. We said goodnight and went to bed.

The next morning I got up and dressed in my robes. I met Ruth in the Common Room. We walked down to the great hall for breakfast. "Hi Harry, it's good to see you." I said, walking up to him.

"Oh, hey Josie, Ruth, good to see you."


	2. Chapter 2

Ruth's POV

I woke up around five the next day. Earlier than everyone else. Picking up my wand and tip-toeing to the common rooms. I took a pear from the fruit bowl in the commons and started casting spells on it. "_Sectumsempra_." I whispered. It fell over and rolled across the table a little. Juice dripped from the pear. It was soon a squishy lump sitting in a pool of pear juice.

"Yuck." I said, poking at the glob of pear with a finger.

"You're abilities impress me. How did you know that spell?" Snape said quietly as he stood in the shadows.

I jumped a little in my chair.

"It just popped into my head; I thought I would try it out. Sorry, I'll go back to the dorms. But wait, shouldn't you be, I dunno, not in the Common Room at five in the morning watching me cast extremely advanced spells? Well, for my age, that is."

"I'm waiting for when the seventh year students try to sneak out, I'll catch them right away this time. Anyways, I suppose not, but you are very skilled. Is your sister at the same level?"

"Yeah." I said, casting a spell to clean up the juice and the pear itself.

"Did you learn these spells like the other one, you just thinking of it?"

"I'm not sure, actually. I think so."

"Do you have any other—uh, how do I put this?"

"Freakish abilities?" I suggested.

"Okay, do you have any other 'freakish abilities'?"

"_Yeah, I guess so_." I started to say in Parseltongue.

"Hmm…Parseltongue."

"Oooh! Let's all ask the freak a bunch of questions so we can see how weird she is!" I said sarcastically.

"I did not mean to offend you."

"I should apologize, too. After the U.S. sent us to London for testing, I've gotten used to being constantly analyzed, and being a bitch."

"The U.S. sent you to London? What?" he paused to correct me. "Also, language."

"Yeah, yeah." I said. "Basically, Country A thought my sister and I were a threat to Public Safety, so they shipped us to England, which is Country B. Then to London, the capital of Country B for testing."

"Interesting." he said quietly.

"Oh please! Like I can't see you're totally fascinated, and maybe slightly confused. My sister and I are different than everyone else. And we know it."

"This is true. I am surprised. Both of you seem very mature for your age."

"If by mature, you mean neither of us take crap from others, then yes, we are very mature."

"You should go to bed."

"Okay." As I said this I picked up an orange and transfigured it into a cookie. "Mmm…chocolate chip. Is that orange chocolate?"

"Can I have one?" Draco asked. I guess he had gotten up sometime while I was talking to Snape. Well I know one thing about someone in Slytherin House that's not my sister. Draco Malfoy likes cookies.

"No." I said, then walked back to my bed.

"Go back to bed, Malfoy." Snape ordered, then left the Common.

"Idiot." I muttered. Referring to Draco, of course. He did look hilarious in his green and silver striped pajamas.

Josie's POV

The next morning, I sat by my sister in the hall, and we started eating.

"The food here is great!" I said, grabbing more bacon.

"I know, way better than the crap the scientists fed us." Ruth agreed. We slipped into our old habit of speaking in Parseltongue. We did it so the people studying us couldn't understand us. I noticed Dumbledore, the headmaster, staring at us suspiciously. Then we got our schedules. Ruth and I had every class together. First off we had potions with Snape. We walked to the dungeons.

"Dum dee dum dungeons!" Ruth sang quietly.

"Oh look Harry's here!" I said, pointing.

"Hello, Harry. Hermione. Ron." I said waving and nodding a little at each of them.

"Oh, hi." he said; waving back. Ron was here too, along with Hermione.

"Okay. Everyone take a seat." Snape said. Everyone sat down and shut up after that.

"Today I will test your abilities. Take out your books and make a simple potion. Turn to page three and begin." he said with no further instructions. We opened our books and got to work. It was a simple acne potion. We had it done in no time. Ruth started dabbing it on her forehead.

"Impressive, this is perfect. You really have a gift." Snape said "I have never seen a first year's first potion so truly amazing." Everyone looked shocked, but I just shrugged and bottled some for myself. Ruth did too. We got to sit back and relax while everyone kept working. Some people's potions—no—mixtures, as they weren't even close to resembling any sort of potion, exploded, which I didn't get. None of the ingredients were explosive, even when mixed.

"I never ask this of students, but do you think you could help your classmates? Some of them seem to be slightly incompetent." Snape asked.

"Oh, sure, we were getting bored anyway." I said, standing. Ruth did the same and I moved over to the Gryffindors. "Ron, need help?" I asked.

"Umm… yeah." he said blushing a little.

"No prob. So you just have to split the saltweed, that's the frosty blue sprig of stuff. You can't chop it like you did before." I helped Ron make a decent potion. I also helped a bunch of other people. Snape was pretty impressed that we could save a potion that seemed beyond repair.

"Good job today, although some of you did better than others." Snape said.

"Thank you, you two." Snape said, walking up to us after most of the students had left the room. "You saved me from scrubbing many singe marks off the tables."

"No sweat." Ruth smiled. As we walked to our next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ruth had a new thought. "Hey, we should call Snape Snapeodilly!"

"Yes we should! Quirrel is our next teacher, so…"

"SQUIRREL!"

"Yes!"

"Well, here's Squirrel's class." I said, pushing open the door. We sat down in the Slytherin side. None of our other friends were in this class, but Draco, or Blondie as I call him, was.

"Hey, when did you get so good at potions?" Blondie asked.

"When did you get so stupid?" I asked.

"When did you become so mean?" he asked.

"Survival instinct." I said shrugging. Blondie looked frustrated his insult sort of backfired.

"She's not lying. You get good at being rude when you're poked and prodded and forced to Apparate—well, never mind." Ruth said.

"You can Apparate?" Blondie asked shocked.

"Well, not exactly… it was accidental but we can kind of control it a little." I said shrugging.

"O-o-kay cla-s-s s-sit d-d-own!" Squirrel stuttered.

"I think he's evil." I whispered to Ruth.

"What makes you think that?" she whispered back.

"Who wears a turban? That's right! No one! He's hiding something, I can tell. Plague would tell you the same thing." I whispered back.

"Ugh, you're suspicious of everyone. If it makes you feel better we keep an eye on him." Ruth said.

"How do we do that?" I asked.

"I found something that may help us. I'll show you after class." Ruth smiled sinisterly. I nodded and we started to pay attention. The whole lesson was what we would be doing this year. It all sounded so easy. I couldn't wait for Ruth to tell me about her discovery.


	3. Chapter 3

Ruth's POV

After the morning classes, and before lunch, I showed Josie the map.

"I found it in my Potions textbook."

"But you bought it new!"

"No, I bought it from the Used section. They're much cheaper, and sometimes they have helpful notes."

"But we're rich. We could've bought the store—and the publishing company, and the paper company, and the forest! Why get a used book?"

"I told you why. Do you wanna see the map or not?"

"Fine. Let's see." Josie grumbled. I pulled the map out. It was an old piece of paper. "Is there an instruction booklet or something?"

"Sort of. I tried it out a little." I said. I opened the folds of the paper, a small piece of paper fell out. It read:

You have found this map merely by chance, I assume.

I am hoping you use it for good. What you have found is the Marauder's Map. It is a map of Hogwarts school. To use it to its full potential, tap the closed map with your wand and say, "I solemnly swear I an up to no good. Everyone who is in the castle will show up on the map. Do enjoy the map. I no longer have a use for it.

p.s. when you are finished with the map, say "Mischief managed." Best of luck, keep the map safe.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Josie said tapping the map with her wand. Then, writing appeared on the map it read:

MARAUDERS MAP

PRESENTED BY MESSRS

MOONY, PADFOOT , WORMTAIL, AND PRONGS

"You're never up to any good." I pointed out.

"True." Josie said opening it and looking at all the foot prints of the students and teachers walking around.

"This should be useful." I said.

"Yeah we'll never get lost again." Josie laughed sinisterly.

"I was thinking of uses other than navigation."

"Is that so?"

Josie POV

We put away the map and walked to lunch.

"So we have Charms and them Herbology." I said looking at our schedule.

"Then the day is over and we can do whatever!" Ruth said.

"That's right!" I said smiling. We ate and talked for the rest of lunch and then we rushed of to Charms. "It's a short day!"

"Okay, welcome to Charms! My name is professor Flitwick and we will be learning a very simple charm today. I want you all to say 'Wingardeum Leviosa.'" he said. It sounded easy enough.

"Wingardeum Leviosa." I said swishing and flicking my wand. The feather flew into the air and I poked Blondie in the eye with it.

"Sorry." I lied.

"Sure." he said rubbing his eye. The rest of the lesson was easy and we even levitated a chair when Flitwick wasn't looking. That kind of freaked Neville out. I felt a little bad, but it's not like we hurt him.

After charms we went to Herbology. That was boring we just talked about plants.

Ruth's POV

After Herbology, we had an hour of free time before dinner.

"Should we play Wizards' Chess?" Josie asked.

"Sure. We should only use the map after hours."

"I agree. After curfew, we should cast the Muffliato spell then pull the map out."

"I hope you lose, stupid." Draco made a face at Josie as we set up the board.

"Get bent, Blondie." Josie retorted.

"Go die." Draco scoffed.

"You first." she smiled coolly.

"I hope you win, Ruth."

"Go away." I muttered.

"Fine." he growled, then walked away.

I did end up winning the first game, but not the second game. Josie won almost immediately. Dinner was turkey drumsticks with green beans and pumpkin juice.

"Mmm…turkey." I said filling my plate—again.

"I know right?" Josie said, taking the another drumstick.

"I'm getting used to how good the food is. You?"

"It doesn't take long for me." Josie smiled.

"Haven't you eaten enough? I mean, really, save some for the rest of us." Draco complained.

"Has the country of England been feeding you rice, Kool-Aid and black beans for the past three years?" I asked rudely?

"No, I guess not."

"Well then I think you should shut up." Josie kicked him from under the table.

"Ow!" Draco whispered.

"Oh be a man." Josie said rolling her eyes.

Josie POV

"Quit being mean." Draco retorted.

"Quit being a baby!" I snapped.

"Whatever." he mumbled.

That night, when everyone was asleep, I woke Ruth up. We took the map out of her Potions book.

"Muffliato." Ruth said.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." I whispered as I tapped the map with my wand. "We need to find Squirrel on this map."

"There he is. Nothing too suspicious." Ruth pointed out. "I'm tired. Can we go to bed now?."

"Okay, mischief managed." I said.

Ruth's POV

"Good night sis. I'll see you in the morning." I said hiding my potions book. I woke up around three. I went to the common rooms and sat on a couch near the fire. I fell asleep after casting several spells on the fire, turning it green and blue, and turning the flames into animals.

_Ruth, you need to run. I heard her say. Josie, I won't leave you behind you're my sister. I sobbed. My sister was the only one who didn't think I was a freak. I could talk to snakes. Move from one place to another uncontrollably, and I could make things turn into other things. Frequently, when we were served rice, beans, and Kool-Aid, we would turn it into better things. This only lasted a few days. Eventually, the scientists and testers started to watch us eat. The scientists had separated us. They were going to give one of us some sort of dangerous medicine, the other would not get any medicine. I was going to break her out of the cell. We would both be free soon. _

_ "Alohamora." I whispered. The lock popped open. Let's go. _

_ "Not so fast!" the scientist shouted._

_ "You can't do this!" I started to cry._

_ "We're humans, not test subjects."_

_ "I have the power to kill both of you children."_

_ "Run Ruth. RUN!." she cried._

_ "I'm not going to leave you here. Who else will treat me like I'm normal-ish? Avada Kedavra!" I shouted. The lone scientist fell backwards and hit the floor._

_ "Let's go!" Josie yelled. So we left the dead scientist behind. Why did I do it? I killed her. She was dead. That scientist had a family. And a life. But maybe she deserved it. I needed a life. My sister needed a life. What was I supposed to do? Be poisoned? Lose my sister? Neither. But she was dead. And it was my fault._

I woke up, screaming, and sobbing uncontrollably.

"Nightmare?" Josie asked plainly. I nodded.

"The one from Phoenix?" she asked. I nodded again.

"You know I can't help but feel slightly guilty for killing her." I said looking a little sad.

"What do you mean you feel guilty for _killing_ her?" Draco asked, he must have walked in when he heard me screaming.

"Where do you come from when you pop up randomly like this?" I asked, annoyed.

"I dunno." he shrugged.

"Whatever, I might as well tell you. At one of the places we were tested on, a scientist was going to kill us so I might have possibly done the killing curse on her." I admitted.

"You've done the killing curse? That's horribly dark magic." Draco said sounding shocked and impressed.

"Well it was that or die so I didn't really have a choice." I said.

"I have to go write a letter to my Dad, so uh, bye." Draco muttered slyly. "I'll see you later."

"I hope not." Josie smirked.

"Good one." I laughed, tears still streaming from my face.

Josie's POV

The nightmares just keep getting worse. And we don't know when they will happen. All we know is only one of us has them at a time the other one has good dreams. It's kind of scary, reliving our past and not knowing when it will happen, but you get used to it I suppose. The worst part is, neither of us want a nightmare, but neither of us want the other to wake up screaming, or sobbing.

"Come on we have to get to breakfast." I said getting up. Ruth followed and we went to eat. I stuffed my face with food knowing it might not last. You just never know. Then we had potions. We walked down to the dungeons and sat in our seats.

"Welcome to class today you will be making a simple wart remover. The instructions are on page five. Ruth and Josie, I'd like to have a word with you."

After the others had begun, we walked up to Snape's desk.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I'm giving you a special assignment today, I will not be surprised if you do not succeed—"

"Hey!" Ruth frowned.

"Allow me to finish, Ruth?"

"Fine." she mumbled.

"I'd like you to try making Felix Felicis."

"What?" Ruth asked. "Liquid Luck?"

"No way! That's really hard!" I whispered with a certain tone of urgency.

"I'd like you to try anyway." Snape said.

"Okay…well we'll need a book won't we?" I asked.

"Okay here you go." Snape handed a book to us and told us what page to go to. We opened it and got to work. This time it was a little hard.

"Well now we know what everyone else feels like." I said as I stirred the potion.

"Yeah this is _kinda_ hard." Ruth agreed. After a couple more minutes we finished and I bottled some up for grading.

"Here you go Snape." I said handing him the vial. He inspected it the vial.

"This is amazing. Absolutely perfect and in such a short amount of time, you two are truly amazing." he exclaimed rather dully.

"We get that a lot." Ruth said shrugging.

"Well enjoy your liquid luck." Snape said handing us the vial and a bottle for the rest.

"You made liquid luck and you get to keep it?" Harry asked.

"Yep want some?" I asked.

"What? No! I can't take that." he said.

"Sure you can, I still have this bottle!" I said holding up a huge liter sized bottle of liquid luck.

Harry took the small vial and appreciatively tucked it in his robe. Blondie shot me a dirty look.

"Hey, Blondie? You got a problem with me? I saw that look. I'm not blind!"

"Why are you always so mean to me?" Blondie complained.

"I dunno. You're whiny and cynical, and I don't like you."

"You're ugly." Blondie stuck his tongue out.

"You're stupid." I said angrily.

"Have you ever tried being nice?"

"Yes, but that failed miserably and almost got me killed, so I've decided it's really not the best way."

"You know I really don't care. After all, you two are nothing but filthy little mudbloods."

"Well then, I've got a big surprise for you." I grinned. "I'm a pureblood, so is my little sister."

"Younger by a few hours." she protested.

"Still younger."

"You're purebloods?" he looked astonished for some reason.

"Yeah and I'm pretty sure we have more money than you as well." Ruth said. He looked amazed.

The rest of the day went great and I found out that the next day we would start flying lessons….

"We should send a letter to Mum and Dad." Ruth thought out loud.

"I suppose so they'll probably wonder what house we got in and stuff." I said. We decided to each write a letter. Mine read:

Dear Mum,

So far Hogwarts has been great. We got sorted into Slytherin. I know everyone else in our family has been in Gryffindor but apparently we're very different. Which shouldn't come as a surprise knowing our past and all. Anyways, tomorrow we're starting flying lessons and that should be fun. Today in potions Ruth and I brewed liquid luck. We got to keep a whole liter of it but I gave some of it to my friend Harry Potter. Yes, _the_ Harry Potter. I'm just sad that we don't get to see more of him because we're in different houses and all. I also have an enemy! Draco Malfoy. Gosh he is an idiot, I hate him. Anyway I think were Professor Snape's favorites because of our unusual skill. So far we've done great in all our classes and many of them seem easy. How do you like being back in the states? I'm having a great time,

Love Josie.

Ruth's POV

I wrote a letter, too. It went like this:

Dear Mum and Dad,

Being new at Hogwarts isn't easy. I got put in Slytherin, at first I was kind of mad because I didn't want to be in the same house as Draco Malfoy. Three words describing him: WHAT A TWIT. But I'm happy to be in the same house as my sister. We found this weird map thing. I won't say anything else, just in case…I dunno, I'm paranoid. Anyways, I hope you don't mind, but I sent you two a few Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, to remind you of the time when you two were at Hogwarts. Did I tell you that the price of books went up a little from last year? And you call me crazy for tracking the price of supplies, even before I went to Hogwarts. Anyways, they went up from a galleon and three Knuts to a Galleon and a Sickle. No big deal when it comes to cost, though. I got this awesome robe, too! When you first walk in the store, all the robes look the same, but I found this Japanese silk robe with a bamboo design on the pockets on the inside, the outside is black , except for the Slytherin crest. Sorry if you think I'm rambling.

Lotsa love (and some wizarding money),

Ruth

Snape gave Josie and I a few advanced study sheets. We had to learn about the Draught of Living Death, Antidotes for Poisons, and other stuff like that. I fill out my worksheet in cursive, in case Draco reads it. I want him to know for sure I'm better than him. Wow, I'm competitive.

What is the main ingredient in Floo Powder?

Fossilized Dragon Scales (ground into a coarse powder)

What is the most important ingredient in Polyjuice potion?

The hair of the person you wish to temporarily become.

What is the antidote to most poisons?

A bezoar.

Your study sheet is complete. You will turn it in to me tomorrow.

Josie's POV

I was working on my study sheet from Snape. God, I hate homework so much.

What is the main ingredient in Floo Powder?

Ground up fossilized dragon scales.

What is the most important ingredient in Polyjuice Potion?

Isn't this obvious? If you want to use the Polyjuice potion you need the person's hair to put in the potion. Otherwise, you have a useless potion that tastes DISGUSTING!!!

What is the antidote to most poisons?

A bezoar, which is a blob from the stomach of a sheep. (Major duh.)

Your study sheet is complete. You will turn it in to me tomorrow.

Maybe I will.

"Done." I said pushing away the worksheet.

"You're already done?" Blondie asked, astounded.

"Psht. Yeah it was easy." I said shrugging.

"Let me see what you had to do." he said grabbing the sheet. "This is sixth year stuff. How did you finish it so fast?"

"What are you talking about? It was easy." I said grabbing it back.

"Hey I wasn't done looking at it!" Draco whined.

"Deal with it." I said flicking him in the head.

"Oww! Quit being mean!" he whined.

"Quit being a baby." I said flicking him again.

"You two play nice." Ruth muttered as she cast a spell to clean the ink from her quill.

"Don't make me kill you in your sleep." I grumbled.

"That's not funny" she frowned. "Not after the scientist in Japan."

"Oh, sorry." I said.

"Hey! Tell me! I wanna know!" Blondie said eagerly.

"Shut it, Blondie." I stuck my tongue out at Blondie, then walked back to the dorms.

"I'll tell my father about this and he'll have you expelled!"

"So we'll go to Beauxbatons and have our parents use their influence at the Ministry to get your precious daddy fired." Ruth countered. Blondie mixed a laugh and a smirk to create some sort of better-than-you-but-you-knew-that look.


End file.
